Good Morning! Today is Monday, October 25. FDA regulators said vaccine benefits outweigh risks in children aged 5 through 11, and an emergency authorization could come next week. Set workers on “Rust” warned of unsafe working conditions days before the film’s cinematographer was fatally shot. The Houston Astros will play the Atlanta Braves in the World Series.
And in mortgage and housing news…
“If You Haven’t Re-fi’d, Do So Now”: A growing consensus among housing and banking analysts is that the real force impacting mortgage rates in the coming months will be inflation.
Black Knight First Look: Delinquencies, active foreclosures, and foreclosure starts all dropped to serious lows in September, Black Knight’s “first look” report shows.
DOJ To Address Redlining: Attorney General Merrick Garland announced a DOJ initiative aimed at combating discriminatory redlining policies that make homebuying more difficult for borrowers of color.
Buyers Gain An Advantage: Home prices are dropping in “pandemic boomtowns” like Boise, Idaho, Bloomberg reports.
Redfin Report: Homebuyer bidding wars dropped to their lowest level of 2021 in September, with 59% of offers facing competition.
No To Crypto Payments: Paying your mortgage with crypto is a bad idea, NextAdvisor argues. It’s like paying “with a bag of magic marbles that were sometimes worth $11,000 each and other times worth $60,000 each.”
“Underserved Mortgage Markets Coalition”: A new housing coalition urged the FHFA to “substantially improve their Duty to Serve proposals before the regulator approves them.”
China’s Housing Overhaul: China said it will conduct five-year property-tax trials in some regions in an attempt to curb housing speculation.
Total Expert Improvements: Total Expert updated its CRM and customer engagement platform with a host of new functionalities and products.
LIRA Predicts “Robust” Future: Harvard’s Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity suggests residential remodeling will remain strong in the next year.